Do you trust me now?
by All that is golden
Summary: It started out as an ordinary, boring hunting trip but when Merlin gets injured can both prince and Warlock learn to trust each other? One-shot, reveal fic.


**A/n I don't own Merlin, I wish I did the ending would have been so much more satisfying. Please read and review, I don't write much and would love to know how to improve.**

"Why does the royal prat love hunting trips so much?" mused Merlin, as he slowly plodded along on his horse behind Arthur. "How can he possibly enjoy hurting animals needlessly?"

It's cruel and not to mention dangerous." He had lost count of how many times they had been attacked on trips and ended up fighting for their lives.

"Hurry up Merlin," came an arrogant voice from up ahead, "I want to have actually caught something by tonight."

"Coming you clotpole."

"Merlin, what does that even mean?"

"It is exactly what you are." Merlin retorted.

"You're a ...a Merlin did you hear that?"

"Here what?" but too late, in a matter of seconds they were surrounded by more bandits than they had ever faced before. Arthur immediately drew his sword and engaged at least three bandits at once, Merlin checked Arthur had his back to him, then dropped a covenant tree branch on top of another but there was still to many.

A strangled yell came from behind him and he whirled around to find a man he presumed to be the leader of the bandits had a knife to Arthurs throat, it took Merlin a few seconds to take in the scene, he wondered why Arthur didn't fight back but then he felt the magic radiating off the man, he must be using magic to subdue Arthur and prevent him fighting back. Arthur's eyes were still open however and he was watching everything with a look of fear, a look Merlin had never seen before and one he never wanted to see again.

The man spoke in a hoarse voice " Emrys," a shudder went down Merlin's spine at the mention of that name "Don't fight or we will hurt you're little precious I know you wouldn't want that,"

"Merlin run," Arthur gasped but the bandit increased the amount of magic and Arthur groaned at the pain. Merlin made a split second decision, Arthur's life was in danger and the only way to save him was magic but he felt like it was still way to early however the decision was made for him when he felt a sharp pain in his back and insectavily lashed out with his magic, slamming all the bandits into the nearby trees, he tried to avoid hitting Arthur but he wasn't sure. His last conscious thought was the hope that Arthur would be safe.

Arthur watched the events unfold in a state of complete shock and horror. First the horror of being defeated then the pain of the magic and finally the shock of Merlin's magic. His Man-servant, scratch that, his friend, one of the people he trusted most in the world had magic; the very thing his father had fought a war and killed so many people over. Magic was evil, he'd always been taught that but somehow Evil and Merlin didn't seem to fit.

All these thoughts flashed through Arthur's mind in a fraction of a second before he realised that Merlin was injured, clever, kind, loyal Merlin was injured, Merlin who had just used magic to save his life. Arthur didn't know what he was going to do about Merlin's magic but he did know that his friend was injured and he was going to make sure he survived because Merlin was his friend, was still his friend.

He picked up the limp body, the body of the boy who would always be his friend, getting blood on his hand has he did so, and carried him to the horses. He needed to treat that wound and it would take too long to get back to Camelot and he couldn't treat it where they were, he wasn't sure all the bandits were dead and there wasn't any water.

Merlin awoke to the familiar motian of a horse trotting along, he vaguely wondered how he had ended up on a horse with a sharp, shooting pain in his back but then the whole incident came flooding back to him, Arthur was undoubtedly taking him back to Camelot to stand trial and then be executed. Hot tears streamed down his checks at the thought, he would die, his mother would be alone, Arthur would have no one to save him.

He didn't notice that they weren't heading towards Camelot, he didn't notice until the horse stopped and a voice, a friendly voice said "Merlin, Merlin are you awake?" and a pair of hands helped him down off the horse and onto the ground. It took him a few minutes to realise that this was Arthur, Arthur was helping him.

Arthur sat him down in the centre of a clearing and said "Wait here,"

"It's not like I can move very far," muttered Merlin, Arthur half smiled then disappeared into the woods.

He came back a short while later carrying an armful of wood and a full water flask. He sat opposite Merlin and began to build a fire but had trouble getting it to light in the end Merlin muttered "Forbeanan" and his eyes flashed gold as the wood caught fire. Arthur gasped in surprise then muttered a few words of thanks.

Next Arthur came and sat next to Merlin, "Merlin.."

"Arthur I'm sorry you probably hate me, you have plenty"

"I don't hate you Merlin, we can help you get through this, promise you won't use it again and everything will be fine."

"Arthur, I.. I'm sorry but I can't, I was born with this magic, I can't stop using it."

"What, that's not possible."

"I'm a warlock, I was born with magic but I use it for you Arthur, only for you." confessed Merlin who then moved slightly and yelled has the pain tore through his back.

"Oh gods your back, I forgot, let me see."

"Arthur, its fine, honestly."

"Merlin, shirt off now, let me see."

"Arthur,"

"Merlin now."

Reluctantly, Merlin removed his shirt, hissing slightly has the fabric caught on the wound, Arthur gasped in horror, Merlins back was a mess of scars, burns, whip marks, and other indeterminable ones.

"Don't" Merlin warned and Arthur tried to focus on the job in hand. He killed the wound with some water he had heated over the fire, Merlin gasped in pain but tried to deal with it, he then wrapped the wound in strips from a spare shirt Merlin had packed for Arthur. Merlin complained that he didn't need this but Arthur refused to listen. As Arthur worked he wondered about Merlin's scars, he himself had lots of them of course but he was a seasoned warrior, Merlin wasn't, Merlin had never really fought in a proper battle so why did he have so many scars.

"Merlin," he said when he had finished "Where did you get these scars."

"Oh you know, accidents mainly," replied Merlin ariely.

"Merlin we both know that isn't true, these are definitely whip marks, so would you please tell me where you got them,"

Merlin gave in "It was my, my magic. Some people in Ealdor found out, they tried to beat it out of me. My mum found out and thought I would be safer in Camelot."

"I'll kill them, I'll, I'll.." Arthur felt his anger rising, people had done this to Merlin, Merlin who's only problem was being born with magic, Merlin who wouldn't hurt a fly, who wasn;t dangerous in the least.

"Arthur, your father has done much worse to many more of my kind, would you say the same to him? Anyway they all left Ealdor before you visited, they don't know I live in Camelot."

"Oh,ok anyway," said Arthur changing the subject, Merlin was right, Uther had killed so many people just for having magic, how was this much different? He was betraying his father right now but he was beginning to learn that magic may not be has evil has he been taught it was.

"Your magic, you said you use it only for me, what does that mean?"

Merlin sighed this was going to take a long time, "Well, basically it means I save you when your life when you do something stupid,its where most of these scars are from, all those convienant falling tree branches and those creatures that can only be killed by magic suddenly dying, that was me. Have you any idea how many times I've saved your life?"

"Why? I've been horrible to you not to mention if anyone in Camelot had found out you would have been killed."

"Destiny," said Merlin "Our destiny, we are two sides of the same coin, you are destined to unite the land of Albion and restore magic, I am supposed to help you get there and make sure you are safe."

"Oh, wow," this was the first time Arthur had heard about his destiny and it completely overwhelmed him, he had always been pressured to be a good king like his father but there was now another dimension, he had to still be the prince, his father's son but he also had to work against his father so when he became king he could make magic legal again and make sure no one lived in fear of who they are. "Does anyone else know about, you know?"

"My mother, Gaius, Lancelot and now you,"

"Lancelot knows?" said Arthur a little surprised.

"He found out by accident,"

"The bandit earlier, he called you Emrys, what does that mean?"

"It's what the druids call me I'm some sort of leader of theirs, I don't really understand it to be honest." as Merlin said this he yelped as new spasm of pain went down his back.

"We had better get you back to Gaius, your still in pain."

"You mean I can come back?" said Merlin hopefully.

"Of course you can Merlin, if you still want to come?"

"Yes I do, Camelot is my home now, I can't protect you anywhere else."

"Merlin I don't need protecting."

"Oh yes you do, remember the time with Cornelius Sigan or the questing beast or the dragon….." he listed numerous times when he had saved the prats life.

"Ok, ok, I get it, now how about we ride for home?"

"Yes let's go please I want to get my wound properly looked at by Gaius." They mounted their horses and set off on the long journey home.

As they rode Arthur pondered over what Merlin had said about the dragon, that whole incident was only a little hazy and he didn't remember actually killing the dragon, "Merlin,"

"Yes Arthur"

"When you listed the times you saved my life, you mentioned the dragon, when did you save me? I can barely remember it,"

Merlin sighed in an almost exasperated way "I sent him away."

"Who?"

"The dragon you cabbage head,"

"But how? Only a dragon lord can do that and Balinor died."

"I am a dragon Lord, Balinor was my father." Merlin felt the sting of tears when he admitted this, Balinors death still felt raw and painful.

" Merlin, I,I'm so so sorry."

"Why? It wasn't your fault, if anything it was mine because I let the dragon out."

"You what?"

"I freed the dragon, he made me promise because I was the only one who could and I needed his advice and help."

"What help?"

"He told me about our destinies and burnished your sword and gave me tons of advice that wasn't very useful at the time."

"You can talk to him?"

"Yes, we can communicate telepathically as well, he is a very mysterious creature."

"Do you trust him?"

"Yes I suppose I do."

"Do you trust me when I say that I will work tirelessly to make magic legal once more and I will not reveal your magic to my father or harm you in any way?"

"Yes Arthur, I do now, I trust you more than almost anyone else."

The continued riding in silence until the reached Camelot, both thinking about what they had learnt on this fateful trip. Arthur had learnt that maybe magic wasn't as bad as his father wanted to believe as well as learning that his man-servant was one of the most powerful sorcerers in Albion and Merlin learnt to trust his friend and prince.


End file.
